Rail-clip.



PATENTED MAY 7, 1907.

U. P. GLAWSON.

RAIL CLIP.

APPLIOATION FILED OCT. 26. 1906.

UNlTED' sTATEs PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES F. cLAwsoN, OF MOU T PLEASANT, IOWA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- FOURTH TO ADAM WEIR AND ONE-FOURTH TO JOHN T, OORCORAN, BOTH OF MOUNT PLEASANT, IOWA.

RAIL -CLIP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 7, 1907.

Application filed ctober26, 1906. Serial No. 340,701.

To all whom it may concern: 1

' Be it known that 1, CHARLES F. OLAwsoN a citizen of the United States, residing at Mount Pleasant, in the county of Henry and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and'useful Improvements in Rail-Clips, of

relation of theties t0 the rails.

which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to railway track appliances, and more particularly that class of such appliances which are designed to prevent creeping of the rails and preserve a correct ,More specifically, the invention belongs to I consequent ex ense.

The main 0 jects of the present invention are to increase the practical efliciency and utility of such devices and at the same time simplify their construction and manipulation as well as reduce their cost; and these objects I accomplish through the. provision of the device hereinafter particularly described and claimed, the principal novel feature of which consists of a onepiece integral s ring steel clip having a transversely elastic body portion adapted to underlie the rail and abut against the side of the tie and jaws on its op- .posite sides adapted to engage therail-base 4 when drawn togetherby a bolt and nut 01'. similar fastening means.

My invention will be readily understood when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings illustrating practical forms thereof, in which- Figure 1 is an edge 'elevational viewof the preferred forin of the invention, shown as applied to a rail and tie; *Fig. 2 is adetached pers iective view of the clip shown in Fig.1 andtion.

ig. 3 is a view'similar to Fig. 1 (with the tie omitted) of a modified form of clip also embodying the principle of the inven- Referring to the drawings, 5 may designate an end portion of a railroad tie, and 6 a standard railroad rail supported thereon. The clip forming the subject-matter of the invention comprises as-i-ts principal ,part or element a transversely elastic member bent to shape from a flat strip of soft steel and having a generally loop-shaped body portion 7 the upper endsof the sides of which are provided with jaws 8 and 9 adapted to engage the. rail-base in the manner clearly shown in Fig. 1,

.In the form of the invention shown in Figs 1. and .2 the loop-shaped body portion, which is designed to abut against the side of the tie asshown' in Fig. 1, comprises an approximately circular bottom portion 10 and -par,

allel straight sides 11 rising therefrom, which latter have registering holes 12 formed there through adapted to receive a fastening bolt 13, this latter bein equipped with a washer 14 and a nut 15. he elastic steel memberis 0 so made that, when detached, the jaws 8 and 9 are spaced apart sufficiently to enable the device to be slip ed up over the rail-base from beneath, and rail-base is effected by drawing the sides together (by turning up the nut 15). As the sides normally tend to spread under the elastic resistance of the device, the bolt and nut are under a constant tension, which prevents the nut from jarring loose. It will be observed as an important feature of this form'of the invention" that the loop-shaped body' portion is eccentric or ofi-center rela tively to the jaws, being nearer theend of the tiethan is the center of the rail-base.- The resultofthis construction is that the thrust of the clip against the side of the tie,-

induced by the creeping actionofthe rail,

tends to give the clip an angular or twisting movement, WhlCll obviously increases its holding or gripping effect on therail-base.

In the form of the invention shown in Fig. 3' the body portion. of'the clip is substantially W-shaped, as shown, the central upward bend or, bow, indicated by 16, bein prefer-- .ably of such height'that when the evice is tightened up into clamping engagement with, the rail-base by its bolt 17, washer 18, and nut 19, the bend or bow 16 will contact the bolt and tend to spread thesides slightl this feature contributing to therigidity an holdthe engagement with the ICC ing power of the device. In this view I have also shown a positive nut lock which may advantageouslybe employed, the sameconsisting of a thin apertured metal plate or strip mounted on the bolt between the Washer and;the nut, the lower end 20 of which may be bent beneath the washer 18 while its upper end- 20 may be bent down over the nut 19 thus preventing back-turning of the latter-i be applied to the fastening device shown in connection with Fig. 1, if desired.

From the foregoing it will be seen that my invention provides an exceedingly simple cheap and effective rail-clip, which may easily be applied and removed, and which has a powerful grip on the rail, which is the most 1 prising an integral bent steel member havin aperturedsides terminating in jaws adapte to grip the rail base, and a bolt passed This nut-lock may obviously through the apertures of said sides and drawg the latter together, substantially as de scribed. p

i 2. A rail clip of the class described, com prising an integral bent steel member having apertured-sides,a transversely elastic portion joining the lower ends of said sides, jaws constitutin extensions of the upper ends of said sides a apted to rip the rail base, and a bolt passed throu said apertured sides and drawing said jaws into gripping en agement with the rail-base, substantially as described.

6. A one-piece rail clip bent to shape from a flat strip of soft steel and comprising jaws adapted to grip the rail-base and a transversely contractible body portion adapted to engage the side of a tie, and a bolt passed through the sides of said bodyportion and contracting the latter, substantially as dey scribed.

4. A resilient rail anchor comprising jaws,

shoulders adj acentsaid'jaws between which and'the aws the side'e'dges of a rail base are adapted to be gripped, an intermediate portion uniting the shoulders and adapted to extend beneath the rail base, and'means for drawing said jaws into engagement withthe rail base against the resiliency of the anchor.

CHARLES F. CLAWSON.

Witnesses:

ADAM WEIR.

MYRTLE" B. KINNEY. 

